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2019 Yashar LaChayal Girls Hoops for Heroes – a Slam Dunk!

12 Girls Basketball Teams representing 12 Yeshiva Middle Schools throughout the tristate area participated this past Sunday, December 8th, in the 2019 Yashar LaChayal Girls Basketball Tournament, where 200 players and coaches came together at the Felman Athletic Center on the campus of RYNJ in River Edge, NJ.

Participating Girls schools included: Bruriah, HAFTR, HALB, Magen David Yeshivah, Manhattan Day School, Moriah, Ramaz, RYNJ, Shulamith School for Girls, Westchester Day School, Yeshivah of Flatbush and Yeshiva Har Torah.

This event was more than just a basketball tournament. Judah and Carol Rhine, Directors of the Hoops for Heroes campaign, launched this project several months ago. They visited each school and met with all the players of each basketball team. They educated the student athletes and raised awareness about Yashar LaChayal, “Straight to the Soldier”, an organization based in Israel, which gives the soldiers “what they need when they need it”.

Each of the players was given a personal fundraising page and they took on the initiative to raise funds for the Hoops for Heroes Tournament project. The funding will provide for Basketball Hoops on army bases throughout Israel to allow the soldiers recreation and respite during their break time from their official on duty responsibilities.

Upon arrival, every participating player and coach received a special IDF cinch sack with the Yashar LaChayal logo and a bracelet displaying “I support the IDF”.

At the opening of the Morning and Afternoon Tournaments, Nir Sinay, who came from Israel representing Yashar LaChayal, and herself a member of the IDF, spoke to the girls, praising them for all their efforts. A specific army unit was assigned to each school. Nir distributed to each team the corresponding flag of that unit as follows:

Shulamith – The Caracal Battalion
RYNJ – Gdud Lavi Unit
Bruriah – Arayot Hayarden Unit
WDS – Shirion Tank Unit
YOF – Iron Dome Unit
Ramaz – Pikud Haoref Unit
MDY – Nachal Unit
Moriah – Magav Unit
HALB – Tzanchanim Unit
HAFTR – Golani Unit
YHT – Totachanim Unit
MDS – Handasa Kravit Unit

The players signed and wrote messages to the Chayalim on their unit flags. Those flags will be brought back to Israel and given out to those army units to show our support for them for their dedication in defending the State of Israel. It was quite a scene to see all the teams gather together on the basketball court at the same time, holding their unit’s flag.

Following this opening ceremony, the games began. The Morning and Afternoon Tournaments began with each team playing a preliminary game. Matchups were set up to enable teams to play teams that they would not play during their leagues’ regular season. These games were followed by the opening Round Games, which were single elimination.

The teams came ready to play and were excited to take to the courts. The players played hard and put in a lot of effort, leaving everything on the court. The enthusiasm and team spirit were quite evident at every game with a lot of spontaneous cheering and clapping that could be heard throughout the gym. Excellent sportsmanship prevailed during and after the games displayed by both the players and their coaches.

In the Morning Semi Finals, MDY defeated HALB to advance to the Championship Game against RYNJ. The Championship Game was competitive and in the end RYNJ proved to be too strong and they emerged victorious as Champions. In the Afternoon Tournament Semi Finals, Moriah defeated HAFTR to advance to the Championship Game against Ramaz. Ramaz started off strong from the beginning and maintained their lead until the final buzzer when they were crowned Champions.

Following the Championship Games, the trophy ceremonies featured each member of the winning teams receiving a Championship Medal with the Yashar LaChayal logo. RYNJ and Ramaz each received a Team Championship Trophy that they will proudly display at their schools.

Each Coach selected an All Star Player who received a special Hoops for Heroes All Star Medal:

Shoshana Pinsker, Bruriah
Sari Gross, Shulamith School for Girls
Lauren Nagler, Yeshiva Har Torah
Kayla Goldberg, HALB
Merle Kassab, MDY
Abbi Kammerman, HAFTR
Elianna Mann, Westchester Day School
Jen Oved, Yeshivah of Flatbush
Imma Solomon, MDS
Hadar Ohring, Moriah

In conjunction with the Tournament, the Hoops for Heroes Mega Raffle featured many prizes, graciously donated to help support the mission of Yashar LaChayal:

MVP Camps Free camp tuition for 2020 MVP Boys or MVP Girls; 2 U.S. Open Tickets 2020 donated by Jonathan & Robyn Katz; 2 Knicks Tickets donated by Nathan Dweck; Judaica Plus, Cedarhurst NY – $100 Gift Card; Traditions, Lawrence NY – $100 Gift Card; Mike’s Burgers, Cedarhurst NY – $100 Gift Certificate; Crawfords, Cedarhurst NY- $50 Gift Certificate; Essen NY Deli, Brooklyn NY – $50 Gift Card; Schnitzi Bar, Brooklyn NY – $50 Gift Card; Grill Point, Queens NY – $50 Gift Certificate; Sammy’s Bagels, Teaneck, NJ – $50 Gift Card; Teaneck Doghouse, Teaneck NJ – $50 Gift Card; Oh! Nuts, Brooklyn NY- $25 Gift Card PLUS Soy Sauce, Queens NY – $18 Gift Card; Carlos & Gabby’s/Graze, Queens NY – $36 Gift Card; Eichlers, Brooklyn NY – Variations by Danielle Silver; Dougies BBQ, Teaneck NJ – $25 Gift Card.

According to Judah and Carol, “There was a great display of achdus throughout the day, amongst all the players, coaches and fans. The players had an opportunity to socialize with old and new friends. This special Tournament gives these students the opportunity to play competitive basketball on the court, and to serve as ambassadors, off the court, to promote the work of Yashar LaChayal and all it provides for the IDF. Special thanks to all the Tournament Basketball Court Sponsors for their generous donations and for showing their support and gratitude for the Chayalim. Special Hakarat HaTov and many thanks to all the Schools, Players, Coaches, Athletic Directors, Principals, Parents, Administrators, families and friends who helped make this event a huge success to benefit Yashar LaChayal.

Find out what Jewish Link had to say about the game here

2019 Yashar LaChayal Boys Hoops for Heroes Basketball Tournament –

A Win Win for All!

On Sunday, December 15th, Yashar LaChayal hosted the second annual 2019 Yashar LaChayal Boys Yeshiva Day School Hoops for Heroes Basketball Tournament at DRS in Woodmere, NY. Eleven Boys Basketball Teams representing ten Yeshiva Middle Schools throughout the tri-state area participated with over 200 players and coaches playing in the Morning and Afternoon Tournament games.

Participating Boys schools included: Manhattan Day School, Westchester Day School, Moriah, HANC, HAFTR, HALB, Magen David Yeshivah, Ramaz, Yeshivah of Flatbush and RTMC (JEC).

This event, created by Judah and Carol Rhine, Directors of the Hoops for Heroes campaign, encompasses on the court basketball with off the court education of raising awareness and funds for Yashar LaChayal. The organization, “Straight to the Soldier”, is based in Israel, and gives the soldiers “what they need when they need it”.

Several months ago, Judah and Carol visited each school and met with all the players of each basketball team. They talked to the student athletes about Yashar LaChayal, and its mission to provide for the IDF soldiers. Each player was given a personal fundraising page and the students took on the initiative to raise funds for the Hoops for Heroes Tournament project. The funding of this project will put Basketball Hoops on army bases throughout Israel to allow the soldiers’ recreation and respite during their break time from their official on duty responsibilities.

Every participating player and coach received a special IDF cinch sack with the Yashar LaChayal logo and a bracelet displaying “I support the IDF”.

At the opening of the Morning and Afternoon Tournaments, Judah spoke to the players, praising them for all their efforts. A specific army unit was assigned to each school and each team was given the corresponding flag of that unit as follows:

WDS – The Caracal Battalion
HANC – Arayot Hayarden Unit
Moriah – Magav (Border Patrol) Unit
YOF – Iron Dome Unit
Ramaz – Pikud Haoref Unit (search and rescue)
MDY – Nachal Unit
HALB – Tzanchanim Unit (paratroopers)
HAFTR – Golani Unit
JEC – Givati Unit
MDS – Handasa Kravit Unit (combat engineering)

The flags will be brought back to Israel and given out to those army units to show our support for them for their dedication in defending the State of Israel. It was quite a scene to see all the teams gather together on the basketball court at the same time, holding their unit’s flag.

Following this opening ceremony, the games began. The Morning and Afternoon Tournaments had each team playing a preliminary game. Matchups were set up to enable teams to play teams that they would not play during their leagues’ regular season. These games were followed by the opening Round Games, which were single elimination.

The teams came ready to play and were excited to take to the courts. The players played hard and put in a lot of effort, leaving everything on the court. The enthusiasm and team spirit were quite evident at every game with a lot of spontaneous cheering and clapping that could be heard throughout the gym. Many of the games came down to the last few seconds, with one game even extending into overtime. Excellent sportsmanship prevailed during and after the games displayed by both the players and their coaches.

In the Morning Tournament, Westchester Day School engineered the Tournament’s first upset when they defeated Moriah in the Championship match. It was a back and forth contest and in the end Westchester pulled away and won the Championship.

In one of the early round games in the afternoon, YOF met Moriah in what would turn out to be a down to the wire game. YOF had the ball down by 2. With just a few seconds left, YOF sunk a put back basket at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. YOF held on and secured the win and moved on to the Semi Finals where they lost to HAFTR in a very tight matchup.

The Afternoon Semi Final Game between MDY and Ramaz was a classic. Both teams battled back and forth with MDY holding a one point lead with under 10 seconds left. Ramaz inbounded the ball and just as the buzzer sounded, Jesse Storch put in the winning basket to send Ramaz to the Championship game vs.HAFTR. Ramaz pulled out to an early lead only to see HAFTR close the gap to 3 points at halftime. The second half Ramaz proved to be too strong and secured a victory and Championship.

During the course of the day there were three minyanim for Mincha and there was also minyan for Maariv before the Afternoon Semi Final games.

Following the Championship Games, the trophy ceremonies featured each member of the winning teams receiving a Championship Medal with the Yashar LaChayal logo. WDS and Ramaz each received a Team Championship Trophy that they will proudly display at their schools.

Each Coach selected an All Star Player who received a special Hoops for Heroes All Star Medal:

Alex Brand, HANC
Eden Brach, MDS
Zachary Raab, HALB
Noah Brandwein, Moriah B
Reuven Rozehzadeh, RTMA
Leo Mizrahi, MDY
Eitan Sulemanoff, Moriah A
Ronnie Chaaya, YOF
Sam Siri, HAFTR

There was a great display of achdus throughout the day, amongst all the players, coaches and fans. The players had an opportunity to socialize with old and new friends. This special Tournament gives these students the opportunity to play competitive basketball on the court, and to serve as ambassadors, off the court, to promote the work of Yashar LaChayal and all it provides for the IDF. Special thanks to all the Tournament Basketball Court Sponsors for their generous donations and for showing their support and gratitude for the Chayalim. Special Hakarat HaTov and many thanks to all the Schools, Players, Coaches, Athletic Directors, Principals, Parents, Administrators, families and friends who helped make this event a huge success to benefit Yashar LaChayal.